How Not to be OOC
By: T. Persona
Chapter One: How to keep Draco Malfoy in Character
~
First we must learn the basic rules of how not to be OOC. You must not have the character do something completely out of his nature (i.e., Remus Lupin suddenly cornering Snape and *ahem*). You must learn about the character and research him/her extensively (aka reading the Harry Potter books). From inference you can determine what a character is like.
Another point- the plot must not be ridiculously out of it (demonstrated at bottom of fic) just to have them do what you want to. The character must be allowed to evolve over the course of the entire story and not over the course of the chapter (I am sorry JK has not made characters to your exact specifications, but you must realize that you can evolve the character in a nice and easy way by having rethinks and little incidents.
To begin with an in character fic, now known as an ICF (In Character Fic), you must draw up facts from the story from the author.
PS: Remember that it is a 3rd person narration of Harry and therefore if doing a 1st person PoV in your fic you do not have to have the exact same feelings about incidents as others.
~
Facts and Effects (~ means effect)
Draco Malfoy is rich and purebred, two facts he often bags upon in an argument and relies upon to get him out of trouble. In the first book I think you'll remember the 'but this is SERVENT stuff' as Draco and Harry are sent into the forest~ he is snobby and hates Muggleborns and Muggles
He often quotes/talks about what his father says and is often heard himself saying 'my FATHER says' ~ shows great admiration for his father and therefore follows what he would do (the insulting mudbloods, etc)
Narcissa Malfoy, his mother, is described as 'looking as if she was smelling something bad (foul?)' and (from Harry's PoV) did not look as if she loved her son much. She also betrayed Sirius by using Kreacher and that means she is not a sweet little witch broken by Lucius to become the perfect little mother-in-law when she is not next to him (oh please people- reeking of OOC-ness) ~ Draco might not have a mother figure in his life to support him and therefore might not have made the proper connections to the proper emotions therefore leading him to bullying and almost 2-demensional being. This lack of affection might have triggered his 'I don't care about people' and 'love is a weakness' ideals.
He insults people which might just be pure meanness, belittling to make himself look better, or perhaps a combination of the two~ he is seen to many, through Harry's PoV, as a bully. He seems to insult only material things, or things that you can see (i.e. Ron's poor clothes and hair) and never about things that might apply to himself (whom he views as better then the rabble) like the love of his family. He keeps away from personal issues and because of that comes off as the insensitive, heartless, repetitive bully and stupid git others view him as and he may very well be.
He makes fun of Harry and others as if he knows nothing else~ this may be true. Children learn to hate from their parents and if Lucius Malfoy spends a bit of every day of his son's early life telling him what scum muggles and muggle-borns are and how wonderful Lord Voldemort is then that is what the child will probably believe.
In matters of relationship the only person he has ever gone 'out' with or showed any romantical inclination too is Pansy Parkinson and by the way Harry describes her it is not a flattering picture. We can only assume that his father told him too~ thereby linking his devotion to him even further, or perhaps he just couldn't get a date due to his bullying exterior (and most probably interior)
You can say all you like about how Draco can change, but by all appearances, he hasn't hit that critical choice yet. He's still immature about so many things and he hasn't fully come into terms with the mellowness of adulthood. Often suffering the results of his own petty cruelty (i.e. cursed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, etc) we can only hope that a time will come soon that might make him choose- at least then he would have a distinct personality.
The people he associates himself with (Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, etc) are clear indicators that he picks people inferior to him in wealth, looks, and social status~ maybe it boosts his ego? The last point I will make is that he is a complete opposite of Harry (family v. orphaned, loved v. hated, and it gets down to a primal as good v. evil) (although we can debate the existence of those two qualities) ~ doesn't that seem a bit too coincidental? Maybe we can draw an accurate picture completing the things about Draco by looking at Harry while doing the same for Harry. The only portrait of this often elusive and seemingly hidden side of this character is- nothing. We can guess all we like, but the fact that he is so far an awful person is what an OOC-conscious author will do (I am by no way implying that he cannot evolve as a person over the duration of the story, but until then he is an awful person)
~
Now that we have covered the facts and effects we move onto the fic. There are a number of ways to start, but if you want a a) believable and b) in character story you have to make ea believable plot line. Draco brooding after an incident is always believable.
For example:
He roughly slammed his door into place. The hinges rocked a bit, but in no way had dampened his surging rage. He threw his shoulder -bag across the room where it hit the door. How dare they! He'd tell his father... Father was in Azkaban of course. He'd get out soon enough- the Malfoy name held too much respect and fear to require otherwise, but still they indignity it had caused was not helping.
Draco quickly walked over to the bed and stripped off the immaculate robes. That's what they were- immaculate- unlike Ron Weasley's cheap hand-me-down- and-down-and-down's. How could he even consider himself a pureblood waltzing around with mudbloods and Potter?
It had started this morning of course. Pansy was being as intolerable as ever and Crabbe and Goyle were providing their usual imitations of giant- sized flobberoworms when this horrible laughing came from the Gryffindor table. When he'd turned around he'd seen them pointing at him. He tensed with anger at their presumption. Those pack of sick muggle-loving fools were not worthy to say his name.
During the time between Potions and bloody stupid McGonagall's class he'd found out what they'd been laughing at. Ron Weasley had been doing a half- assed impression of him before a crowd of blubbering Gryffindors. Ron had pretended to fall to his knees and was talking, "But mother, don't you and father love me?" he'd said in a high-pitched squeal. Then he stood up and stuck his nose in the air. "Of course we don't love you son. Your father and I simply had you to be our little clone and mini-Deatheater. What did you think, Drakkie dear?"
His stomach had clenched when he heard the laughter. He swiftly made his way towards the crowd just as stupid Mudblood Granger's voice was speaking. "Oh that was amusing the 1st time, but honestly, it's getting old and just because his mother's owl sent you that bloody stupid lett-," "Mail for me?" Draco had cut in coldly.
"Oh sod off you little wanker," Ron had snarled. "We already burnt that letter- wouldn't want it to contaminate us with your empty-headed-"
"Shut UP."
There was about a second's pause as everyone waited for the newest Weasley/Malfoy battle. Then Draco recovered his composure. "Just because your fat cow of a mother can't afford to send you letters doesn't mean you have to steal mine," Draco said. Ron snarled and jumped at him only to be grabbed by Hermione. "Hermione let me GO! That pasty-faced ferret just insulted my mother-" "As any sane minded person would," Draco smirked, still inwardly furious. "Just as any sane-minded person would jump out of the way at the thought of being touched by Mudblood Gran- ahAH!" Draco said as he found himself pinned on the floor.
Hermione had let Ron go. There was a brief exchange of fists and then the two fighters were broken apart by McGonagall. Draco was quick to get in the first word. "Weasley here stole my letter from my mother and then when I asked for it back he jumped on top of me," he quickly said lying about his account in the tale.
"Professor you know that isn't true," Ron started to shout, but Snape cut him off. "I believe we know, Minerva, of the Weasley's famous temper. Maybe a week of detentions and 30 points off from Gryffindor would take care of it?" Snape hissed evilly. McGonagall told Snape that he'd have to take it upon himself to punish Draco and Draco got off with a night of detentions and 20 points from Slytherin.
Twenty minutes later he'd trudged up to the Common Room with a split lip and Pansy all over him. He'd thrown her off and walked into his room thinking about Granger's last words to him as he walked away with his cronies and awful pug-faced girlfriend. "You're a pompous fool and a mean git," she'd said in a quavering voice, comforting Ron.
Now alone in his sparsely and expensively decorated room he could reflect on that. Sure, he was a pureblood, but that was no reason for her to be jealous, Mudblood, he thought. At least he'd picked the right side when it came to that. At least he was on the upper side of the food chain. He grinned and settled amongst his pillows.
If he was so right then why did he feel, what was that word? Foreboding, yes that was it. Why did he feel foreboding? Whatever it was he could ask Father. Father will be out of Azkaban soon he thought dreamily... Ask father... And be on the right side.... Perfect...
~
There you can see a little of the Malfoy personality as well as a bit of doubt that popped up, but was quickly assuaged. It was by far not the best ICF I have ever seen and far from the best written, but it did not go off on one of that awful 'this-is-so-not-the-real-Malfoy' stuff. Let's face it, he's not a good person, we can only hope he'll change.
The next point I want to illustrate, as clearly as possible is what NOT to do.
Ok, here we go:
~
TOP 10 THINGS YOU NEVER DO IN AN ICF ABOUT DRACO MALFOY
~
10) Never have him have second thoughts about a girl in the first chapter
(romance fics. bah!)
9) Never let him be so stunningly, charming, gorgeous, or magically
inclined that none can resist him (he's not been portrayed most
flatteringly by Harry and that can't all be biasness)
8) He must not love anything muggle at first- it's ingrained in his personality to hate
7) He must have an insatiable need to throw out insults and garbage at
people (it's like his only part in the book)
6) His family must not be close knit or anything (it's not like his parents like him)
5) He may not have a vibrant and clever personality (He throws out the
same insults at the same people...)
4) He must not be so wonderful (he's practically Harry's double and
opposite at the same time and we all know Harry is not perfect)
3) There must be no good will in him at first (he's never had any before)
2) He must want to be a Death eater (unless something bad has happened
and he's had that moment of truth)
1) Don't, for the love of god, let him be completely good or completely evil- he is not either! He cannot be completely evil for there is no such irrational pettiness in evil and he cannot be good because it requires compassion and he has not discovered the meaning of that yet.
~
And now I hope we all have a clearer understanding about Draco Malfoy. Ginny Weasley will be next week so tune in folks.
Reviews are appreciated....
Complied by: The P. Persona
~
By: T. Persona
Chapter One: How to keep Draco Malfoy in Character
~
First we must learn the basic rules of how not to be OOC. You must not have the character do something completely out of his nature (i.e., Remus Lupin suddenly cornering Snape and *ahem*). You must learn about the character and research him/her extensively (aka reading the Harry Potter books). From inference you can determine what a character is like.
Another point- the plot must not be ridiculously out of it (demonstrated at bottom of fic) just to have them do what you want to. The character must be allowed to evolve over the course of the entire story and not over the course of the chapter (I am sorry JK has not made characters to your exact specifications, but you must realize that you can evolve the character in a nice and easy way by having rethinks and little incidents.
To begin with an in character fic, now known as an ICF (In Character Fic), you must draw up facts from the story from the author.
PS: Remember that it is a 3rd person narration of Harry and therefore if doing a 1st person PoV in your fic you do not have to have the exact same feelings about incidents as others.
~
Facts and Effects (~ means effect)
Draco Malfoy is rich and purebred, two facts he often bags upon in an argument and relies upon to get him out of trouble. In the first book I think you'll remember the 'but this is SERVENT stuff' as Draco and Harry are sent into the forest~ he is snobby and hates Muggleborns and Muggles
He often quotes/talks about what his father says and is often heard himself saying 'my FATHER says' ~ shows great admiration for his father and therefore follows what he would do (the insulting mudbloods, etc)
Narcissa Malfoy, his mother, is described as 'looking as if she was smelling something bad (foul?)' and (from Harry's PoV) did not look as if she loved her son much. She also betrayed Sirius by using Kreacher and that means she is not a sweet little witch broken by Lucius to become the perfect little mother-in-law when she is not next to him (oh please people- reeking of OOC-ness) ~ Draco might not have a mother figure in his life to support him and therefore might not have made the proper connections to the proper emotions therefore leading him to bullying and almost 2-demensional being. This lack of affection might have triggered his 'I don't care about people' and 'love is a weakness' ideals.
He insults people which might just be pure meanness, belittling to make himself look better, or perhaps a combination of the two~ he is seen to many, through Harry's PoV, as a bully. He seems to insult only material things, or things that you can see (i.e. Ron's poor clothes and hair) and never about things that might apply to himself (whom he views as better then the rabble) like the love of his family. He keeps away from personal issues and because of that comes off as the insensitive, heartless, repetitive bully and stupid git others view him as and he may very well be.
He makes fun of Harry and others as if he knows nothing else~ this may be true. Children learn to hate from their parents and if Lucius Malfoy spends a bit of every day of his son's early life telling him what scum muggles and muggle-borns are and how wonderful Lord Voldemort is then that is what the child will probably believe.
In matters of relationship the only person he has ever gone 'out' with or showed any romantical inclination too is Pansy Parkinson and by the way Harry describes her it is not a flattering picture. We can only assume that his father told him too~ thereby linking his devotion to him even further, or perhaps he just couldn't get a date due to his bullying exterior (and most probably interior)
You can say all you like about how Draco can change, but by all appearances, he hasn't hit that critical choice yet. He's still immature about so many things and he hasn't fully come into terms with the mellowness of adulthood. Often suffering the results of his own petty cruelty (i.e. cursed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, etc) we can only hope that a time will come soon that might make him choose- at least then he would have a distinct personality.
The people he associates himself with (Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, etc) are clear indicators that he picks people inferior to him in wealth, looks, and social status~ maybe it boosts his ego? The last point I will make is that he is a complete opposite of Harry (family v. orphaned, loved v. hated, and it gets down to a primal as good v. evil) (although we can debate the existence of those two qualities) ~ doesn't that seem a bit too coincidental? Maybe we can draw an accurate picture completing the things about Draco by looking at Harry while doing the same for Harry. The only portrait of this often elusive and seemingly hidden side of this character is- nothing. We can guess all we like, but the fact that he is so far an awful person is what an OOC-conscious author will do (I am by no way implying that he cannot evolve as a person over the duration of the story, but until then he is an awful person)
~
Now that we have covered the facts and effects we move onto the fic. There are a number of ways to start, but if you want a a) believable and b) in character story you have to make ea believable plot line. Draco brooding after an incident is always believable.
For example:
He roughly slammed his door into place. The hinges rocked a bit, but in no way had dampened his surging rage. He threw his shoulder -bag across the room where it hit the door. How dare they! He'd tell his father... Father was in Azkaban of course. He'd get out soon enough- the Malfoy name held too much respect and fear to require otherwise, but still they indignity it had caused was not helping.
Draco quickly walked over to the bed and stripped off the immaculate robes. That's what they were- immaculate- unlike Ron Weasley's cheap hand-me-down- and-down-and-down's. How could he even consider himself a pureblood waltzing around with mudbloods and Potter?
It had started this morning of course. Pansy was being as intolerable as ever and Crabbe and Goyle were providing their usual imitations of giant- sized flobberoworms when this horrible laughing came from the Gryffindor table. When he'd turned around he'd seen them pointing at him. He tensed with anger at their presumption. Those pack of sick muggle-loving fools were not worthy to say his name.
During the time between Potions and bloody stupid McGonagall's class he'd found out what they'd been laughing at. Ron Weasley had been doing a half- assed impression of him before a crowd of blubbering Gryffindors. Ron had pretended to fall to his knees and was talking, "But mother, don't you and father love me?" he'd said in a high-pitched squeal. Then he stood up and stuck his nose in the air. "Of course we don't love you son. Your father and I simply had you to be our little clone and mini-Deatheater. What did you think, Drakkie dear?"
His stomach had clenched when he heard the laughter. He swiftly made his way towards the crowd just as stupid Mudblood Granger's voice was speaking. "Oh that was amusing the 1st time, but honestly, it's getting old and just because his mother's owl sent you that bloody stupid lett-," "Mail for me?" Draco had cut in coldly.
"Oh sod off you little wanker," Ron had snarled. "We already burnt that letter- wouldn't want it to contaminate us with your empty-headed-"
"Shut UP."
There was about a second's pause as everyone waited for the newest Weasley/Malfoy battle. Then Draco recovered his composure. "Just because your fat cow of a mother can't afford to send you letters doesn't mean you have to steal mine," Draco said. Ron snarled and jumped at him only to be grabbed by Hermione. "Hermione let me GO! That pasty-faced ferret just insulted my mother-" "As any sane minded person would," Draco smirked, still inwardly furious. "Just as any sane-minded person would jump out of the way at the thought of being touched by Mudblood Gran- ahAH!" Draco said as he found himself pinned on the floor.
Hermione had let Ron go. There was a brief exchange of fists and then the two fighters were broken apart by McGonagall. Draco was quick to get in the first word. "Weasley here stole my letter from my mother and then when I asked for it back he jumped on top of me," he quickly said lying about his account in the tale.
"Professor you know that isn't true," Ron started to shout, but Snape cut him off. "I believe we know, Minerva, of the Weasley's famous temper. Maybe a week of detentions and 30 points off from Gryffindor would take care of it?" Snape hissed evilly. McGonagall told Snape that he'd have to take it upon himself to punish Draco and Draco got off with a night of detentions and 20 points from Slytherin.
Twenty minutes later he'd trudged up to the Common Room with a split lip and Pansy all over him. He'd thrown her off and walked into his room thinking about Granger's last words to him as he walked away with his cronies and awful pug-faced girlfriend. "You're a pompous fool and a mean git," she'd said in a quavering voice, comforting Ron.
Now alone in his sparsely and expensively decorated room he could reflect on that. Sure, he was a pureblood, but that was no reason for her to be jealous, Mudblood, he thought. At least he'd picked the right side when it came to that. At least he was on the upper side of the food chain. He grinned and settled amongst his pillows.
If he was so right then why did he feel, what was that word? Foreboding, yes that was it. Why did he feel foreboding? Whatever it was he could ask Father. Father will be out of Azkaban soon he thought dreamily... Ask father... And be on the right side.... Perfect...
~
There you can see a little of the Malfoy personality as well as a bit of doubt that popped up, but was quickly assuaged. It was by far not the best ICF I have ever seen and far from the best written, but it did not go off on one of that awful 'this-is-so-not-the-real-Malfoy' stuff. Let's face it, he's not a good person, we can only hope he'll change.
The next point I want to illustrate, as clearly as possible is what NOT to do.
Ok, here we go:
~
TOP 10 THINGS YOU NEVER DO IN AN ICF ABOUT DRACO MALFOY
~
10) Never have him have second thoughts about a girl in the first chapter
(romance fics. bah!)
9) Never let him be so stunningly, charming, gorgeous, or magically
inclined that none can resist him (he's not been portrayed most
flatteringly by Harry and that can't all be biasness)
8) He must not love anything muggle at first- it's ingrained in his personality to hate
7) He must have an insatiable need to throw out insults and garbage at
people (it's like his only part in the book)
6) His family must not be close knit or anything (it's not like his parents like him)
5) He may not have a vibrant and clever personality (He throws out the
same insults at the same people...)
4) He must not be so wonderful (he's practically Harry's double and
opposite at the same time and we all know Harry is not perfect)
3) There must be no good will in him at first (he's never had any before)
2) He must want to be a Death eater (unless something bad has happened
and he's had that moment of truth)
1) Don't, for the love of god, let him be completely good or completely evil- he is not either! He cannot be completely evil for there is no such irrational pettiness in evil and he cannot be good because it requires compassion and he has not discovered the meaning of that yet.
~
And now I hope we all have a clearer understanding about Draco Malfoy. Ginny Weasley will be next week so tune in folks.
Reviews are appreciated....
Complied by: The P. Persona
~